Navigating the Web to Find Reliable Housing-Market Data

By June Fletcher

Question: Why is it so hard to get good data on housing-market prices, especially in major metro areas like Washington, D.C.? Are there no reliable indexes? I disagree that Realtors will help much -- even for information on price cuts in your target neighborhood. Most Realtors just want to sell houses, and "now" is always the best time to buy; data would just "confuse" us.